In the most commonly used type of combustion engine, such as the standard automobile engine, the drive shaft is rotated by converting the thrust of pistons into rotational motion of the drive shaft by a direct mechanical linkage in the form of connecting rods. The manner of conversion of the chemical energy of the fuel used to drive the pistons into rotational energy of the drive shaft in such engines lacks efficiency because a significant amount of the energy imparted by the exploding fuel to the thrust of the pistons is lost to friction and to poor leverage through the mechanical linkage. Standard piston engines use relatively large amounts of fuel, and cause well known air and noise pollution problems.
Turbine engines have been designed with the object of providing more efficient power plants. In some turbine engines, a mixture of air and fuel is compressed and ignited, and the expanding combustion gases are directed through a turbine that is connected to a drive shaft. Compression of the air/fuel mixture can be accomplished by means of reciprocating pistons, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,710,569, issued to Rinker. In another turbine engine, shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,068,639, issued to Benoit, a double acting piston is utilized to provide combustion gases to drive a turbine, but the structure of the engine shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,068,639 lacks dynamic balance.